British American Tobacco and McLaren Racing announce continued partnership

British American Tobacco (BAT) has been the Official Principal Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team since 2019. Since the tobacco sponsorship ban in 2006, the company has evolved its ‘A Better Tomorrow’ message to promote its new nicotine products. The company’s partnership with McLaren promotes the ‘Driven by Change’ campaign through BAT’s Vuse and Velo brand.

BAT has extended its multi-year partnership with McLaren Racing[1]. Under the agreement, BAT will continue to be an official principal partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team for the 2024 season and beyond. For the first time this year, BAT branding will appear on the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team cars. The Vuse and Velo logos are placed on the drivers’ uniforms and in several high-profile locations on the cars.

Motorsports as a means of promoting new nicotine products

In March 2020, BAT rebranded its website with the slogan “A Better Tomorrow”, originally used to promote its vaping brand Vuse (formerly Vype). This promotion was particularly done in motorsports. This slogan leads to the promotion of all of the manufacturer BAT’s new products, which it describes as “potentially reduced risk products”. The manufacturer’s image strategy is to highlight the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), its concern for collaboration, its involvement in science and technological innovations in order to promote its tobacco and nicotine products to a young audience.

In 2023, several Dutch health associations had seized the Advertising Code Commission in an attempt to prevent McLaren from advertising Velo nicotine pouches during the Formula 1 championship in Zandvoort (Netherlands)[2]. The Dutch government announced in April 2023 that it wanted to ban the sale of nicotine pouches in the country. In response, McLaren cars displayed the anagram "LOVE" during the Grand Prix to circumvent the ban. However, this form of communication still represents advertising, for health organizations.

Using F1 to engage the manufacturer in corporate social responsibility activities

According to theanalysis carried out for STOP by Formula Money in 2023, BAT and McLaren are using their “Driven by change” campaign to “ empower and shine a spotlight on underrepresented artists from all backgrounds ". This initiative thus combines tobacco sponsorship with a positive philanthropic project. This type of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity is one of the tobacco industry's tactics to restore its image and divert attention from the harm it continues to cause. McLaren and BAT have also launched a partnership called "Driven by Diversity" which is billed as " Educate individuals and organizations on the value of diversity and inclusion in motorsports "This campaign actually helps to promote the manufacturer's nicotine products to an even younger audience, which is also sensitive to issues of diversity and inclusion.

In addition, these initiatives attract the attention of many media outlets, which do not usually cover F1 events. This positive media coverage contributes to further normalising the presence of the cigarette company and nicotine consumption.

A younger, more feminine and larger audience

According to STOP, Formula 1 racing viewership reached 445 million in 2021, with notable increases in some markets. Much of the recent growth in global viewership, and particularly in the United States, has been attributed to the Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” The show launched in 2019 and has appeared in Netflix’s top 10 weekly programs in more than 50 countries. It focuses on the personal stories of the drivers and has broadened the sport’s appeal to a mass audience.

A Nielsen survey showed that viewers of "Drive to Survive" were younger than viewers who only watch F1, with 46% of viewers aged 34 and 16% aged under 34. The show also led to more women becoming interested in motorsports, with motorsports seeing a 30% increase in this demographic.

Keywords: McLaren, British American Tobacco, Formula 1, motor sports, motor racing, partnership, Velo, Vuse, Netflix

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[1] McLaren Racing agrees multi-year BAT sponsorship extension, Blackbook motorsport, published on April 8, 2024, accessed on April 10, 2024

[2] Generation without tobacco, Netherlands: complaint filed against McLaren for advertising VELO nicotine sachets during the Formula 1 championship, published on August 23, 2023, consulted on April 10, 2024